Amusement machine



Jan. 9, 1934.

J. F. MEYER AMUSEMENT MACHINE Filed Jan. 18, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l Jan.9, 1934.

J. F. MEYER AMUSEMENT MACHINE Filed Jan. 18, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I l lJan. 9, 1934. J, F, MEYER AMUSEMENT momma Filed Jan. 18, 1932 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 9. 1934. MEYER 1,942,718

AMUSEMENT MACHINE Filed Jan. 18, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I fiizfeiziar m X15 4/ Patented Jan. 9, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to amusement machines and the salient object isto provide a novel machine which will serve as a vending machine uponsuccessful operation thereof.

Further objects are to provide a coin-controlled amusement machinewherein the coin will serve as a projectile; skill will be required forsuccessful operation; normally locked portions may be manually releasedupon successful operation of the machine; and the coins will be socollected that the number of successful operations may be easilydetermined.

Still further objects of the invention are to provide an amusementmachine of simple and economical construction and emcient and positiveoperation and which will be of attractive appearance to induce usethereof.

In the selected embodiment of the invention illustrated in theaccompanying drawings Fig. l is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation, the rear wall having been removed;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 33on Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional View taken substantially onthe line 4i on Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the releasing mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating a portion of the operatingmechanism;

Fig. '7 is a view taken substantially on the line '77 on Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the coin support; and

Fig. 9 is a detail view of the ratchet lock mechanism.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, 9 generally indicatesthe housing of the amusement machine that is supported on a suitablebase. The upper wall 11 of the base 19 provides the lower wall of thehousing 9 and extending upwardly from the base 10 at the front of themachine is the front wall 12 including a removable panel 13 having akey-operated lock 14 therein, the panel 13 including a rib 15 on thelower edge thereof which seats in a rabbeted groove 16, and this, incooperation with the lock 14, retains the removable panel 13 inposition. A frame 17 inclines inwardly and extends to the upper wall 18of the compartment 19 above the wall 11 in the housing 9. A glass panel20 is provided in the frame 17 through which the front surface of theinclined plate 21 may be viewed. On the inclined plate 21 and spacedfrom each other are tubes 24 which extend downwardly on the face of theplate. These tubes 24 provide coin entrapment devices.

A suitable design 25 is associated with each of the bafiies 22 and thisdesign may be painted or otherwise provided on the face of the plate 21.In the present instance, this design is in the nature of a pole having aflag thereon and the flags associated with the respective baffies areconsecutively numbered as in the present instance where there are fourbattles the flags are respectively numbered 1 to 4. The baiiles 22 andtubes 24 are arranged adjacent one end of the plate 21 and at theopposite end of the plate 21 is a coin guide 26 leading from a coin slot27 through which a coin may be introduced into the guide 26. Secured tothe lower rail of the frame 1'7 is a horizontal plate 28 on which amanikin 29 is arranged, and this manikin includes a club 30 or otherstriking implement, as will be described presently. The coin guide 26includes an enlarged portion 31 arranged adjacent the'plate 28 and thecoin guide terminates in a formed discharge portion 32 which is directedtoward the open ends of the tubes 24. In the enlarged portion 31 andformed portion 32 is a slot 38 through which the head of the club 30 ismovable. The enlarged portion 31 includes a section providing a stop 34and when a coin 35 is inserted in the coin slot 27 and passed throughthe coin guide 26, it comes to rest against the stop 34-. in a positionto extend across the slot 33 as best illustrated in Figs. 6 and '7. Whenthe coin 35 is disposed in this position, the head of the club 30 may beengaged therewith and slowly moved thereby and when this is done, thecoin 35 will merely be elevated in the enlarged portion 31 to permitpassage of the club head. However, when the club head is disposed to theright of the coin 35, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 6, the club may bemanipulated, in a manner to be described, to strike the coin 35 with asharp blow to impel the cointhrough the formed guide 32 to pass from theend of this formed guide and move toward the open ends of the tubes 24while resting on the inclined plate 21. The 100 baffles 22 includedeflecting portions and if the operator is sufficiently skilled, he maydrive the coin into engagement with the underside 'of one of the bafflesso that the deflecting portion will direct the coin into the tube 24aligned with 105 the struck bafile. On the horizontal wall 11, spacedfrom the panel 13, is a vertical partition 36 (Fig. 3) and extendingfrom this partition is a horizontal partition 37, and these partitions36 and 37 in cooperation with the removable 1 10 panel 13 and wall 11provide a compartment 38 in which a coin box 39 may be disposed. In thecoin box 39 is a partition 40, dividing the coin box into twocompartments. In the partition 37 in alignment with the forwardmost ofthe compartments in the coin box 39 is an opening 41 through which thereduced end of a coin guide 42 passes. The coin guide 43 has the reducedlower end thereof aligned with the upper end of the coin guide 42 andthe rear edge of the coin guide 43 rests against the lower end of theplate 21, which plate is carried by supporting partitions such as 4.4(Fig. 6). If the coin does not pass into one of the tubes 24, it slidesover the inclined face of the plate 21 into the coin guide 43 and outinto'the coin guide 42 from whence it passes into the forwardmostcompartment in the coin box 39.

Arranged above the wall 18 is a housing 44 having compartments providedtherein, and the number of these compartments corresponds to the numberof tubes 24 and preferably these compartments are numberedcorrespondingly to the numbering of the designs associated with thebaffies and coin tubes. The front of each of the compartments in thehousing 34 comprises a door 45, hinged at 46', preferably at the upperend thereof. Each door is acted on by a spring such as 47 which normallytends to force the door open. On the lower rail of each of the doors isa hook member 46 (Fig. 4) engaged by the detent 47 on the lever 48fulcrumed at 49. On the rear face of the plate 21, levers 50 arepivotally mounted at 51, and the upper ends of these levers 50 extendthrough a slot 52 in the wall 18 and have, at the upper ends thereof,pins 53 which extend through openings at the ends of the levers 48.Springs 54 extend between the levers 50 and spring anchors on the plate21 and act on the levers 50 to tend to pivot the levers 48 so that thedetents 47 thereon will engage the hooks 46 to thereby retain the doors45 in position to prevent access to the compartments in the housing 34.Secured to the rear face of the plate 21 and depending from the loweredge thereof in spaced relation with each other are bearings 55 and 56in which a shaft 57 is journaled. The shaft 57 comprises two sectionsjoined by screws 58 (Fig. 2) and at spaced intervals these sections arerecessed to provide pockets 59, which pockets are arranged in alignmentwith the lower ends of the tubes 24. In alignment with the pockets 59are screws 60 which pass between the sections of the shaft 57 into thepockets 59, and the coins 35 rest on these screws when the coins passinto the pockets 59. Thus, by adjusting the screws 60 the position ofthe coins in the pockets may be determined. As best illustrated in Fig.5, the rear face of the tubes 24 is cut away, as indicated at 61. On thebrackets 55 and 56 are arms 62 and 63 in which a shaft 64 is journaled.Bell cranks 65 are mounted on the shaft 64 and the arms 66 of the bellcranks include foot portions 67 normally disposed behind the cutawayportions at the lower ends of the tubes 24, said foot portions includingsections which engage the rear walls of the tubes 24 to limit movementof the foot portions 67 toward the tubes. Links 69 are connected to thearms 68 of the bell cranks 65 and to arms 70 of the bell cranks 71pivotally mounted on the rear face of the plate 21. Links 72interconnect the arms 73 of the bell cranks 71 and the levers 50. Thesprings 54 act on the levers 50 and through the links 72, bell cranks 71and links 69 to pivot the, bell cranks 65 to normally urge the footportions 67 into engagement with the tubes 24. A spring 74 has a chain75 at the free end thereof, which chain is wrapped about and connectedto the shaft 57, and the spring 74 acts through the chain 75 to tend toturn the shaft 57 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5,to urge the stop 76 (Fig. 2) on the shaft 57 into engagement with thelower end of the plate 21 and when the stop 76 engages the plate 21, thepockets 59 are aligned with the lower ends of the tubes 24. Thus, when acoin passes through one of the tubes 24, it moves into a pocket 59.Extending through the front wall 12 is a shaft 77 (Fig. 2) having ahandle 78 thereon (Fig. 1). At the rear end of the shaft 77 is an arm 79having a link 80 connected thereto, which link is connected to a lug 81on the shaft 57. When the handle 78 is grasped and turned in acounter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, the arm 79 will bemoved downwardly, and this movement will be transmitted through the link80 and lug 81 to turn the shaft 57 in a clockwise direction, as viewedin Fig. 5. When the shaft 57 is turned in this clockwise direction, the

coin 35 in the pocket 59 will move through the 1 cutaway portion 61 ofthe tube 24 and engage the foot portion 67 to thereby pivot the bellcrank 65 carrying the foot portion 67 and this movement will betransmitted to the link 69 which will be moved downwardly. Downwardmovement of the link 69 will pivot the bell crank 71, connected to saidlink, in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, and this movementwill be transmitted through the link 72 to the lever 50, which leverwill be pivoted against the action of the spring 74 to pivot the lever48 to disengage the detent 47 from the hook 46 whereupon the spring 47will open the door 45 of the compartment numbered correspondingly to thetube 24 through which the coin has passed whereupon the operator of themachine may reach into the compartment behind the opened door 45 andremove the article of merchandise in said compartment which willconstitute a prize or reward for the skill of the operator in drivingthe coin into one of the tubes 24. In the downward movement of thehandle 78, the shaft 57 will be so rotated that the coin 35 willdisengage the foot portion 67, and at the time the coin disengages thefoot portion it will be free to fall into the coin guide 82 therebelow.The V coin guide 82 leads to an opening 83 in the partition 87 and coinspassing out through this opening 83 will enter the compartment behindthe partition 40 in the coin box 39. Thus, the coins which pass throughthe tubes 24 pass into one compartment in the coin box 39, while thecoins which do not pass through the tubes 24 collect in anothercompartment in said coin box. The coins which pass through the tubes 24are those which bring about a successful operation of the machine I andas these coins are collected separately from the other coins, the numberof successful operations of the machine may be determined easily whenthe coin box is removed, by unlocking the lock 14 and removing the panel13 whereupon the coin box 39 may be removed.

To prevent the shaft 57 from being turned sufficiently to operatethrough a coin against a foot portion 67 to effect a release, as abovedescribed, but not sumciently to effect discharge of the coin, thearrangement shown in Fig. 9 is provided. A ratchet 93 is fixed on theshaft 57 and a centered pawl 94 seats in the teeth thereof as the shaftis rotated to move a foot portion 67. This pawl by so seating preventsthe shaft from being turned in a direction opposite to that in which itis turned to effect a release until after the coin has fallen into thecoin guide 82. When the shaft has been turned sufliciently to permitdischarge of the coin, the relieved portion 95 will be aligned with thepawl and by reason of the rounded face on the pawl it will permit theteeth of the ratchet to move thereby and when the parts assume the fullline position of Fig. 9, the spring 96 will again center the pawl forseating in the ratchet upon the next operation of the shaft 57.

A shaft 84 (Fig. 7) is journaled in the front wall 12 and in a bracket85 depending from the plate 21. On the end of this shaft, extendingoutwardly of the front wall 12, is a handle 86. This handle 86 may bemoved in a clockwise direction and when this is done, movement istransmitted from shaft 84 through arm 8'7 to link 88 connected to thearm 89 on the crank 90 in the manikin 29. The upper end of the club 30is connected to the arm 91 of the crank 90 and when the handle 86 isturned in a clockwise, direction as viewed in Fig. l, the club 30 willbe moved through the slot 33 to drive the coin through the formed guide32. A spring 92 extends between a spring anchor on the plate 28 and alink fast to the shaft 84 and serves to normally hold the handle 86 andthe club 30 in the positions illustrated in Fig. 1.

The operation of the device is as follows: A coin 35 will be introducedinto the coin slot 27 which will move through the guide 26 into theenlarged portion 31 to be engaged with the stop 34. The handle 86 willthen be manipulated to cause the head of the club 30 to strike the coinwith a sharp blow whereupon the coin will be driven out through theformed guide 32 toward the open ends of the tubes 24. If the coin doesnot properly enter one of the open ends of the tubes 24, it will passinto the coin guide 43 to be collected in the forward part of the coinbox 39. The coin will rest on the inclined face of the plate 21 as it isdischarged from the formed guide 32 and if the operator is suflicientlyskilled, he may cause the coin to strike one of the baffles 22 whichwill deflect the coin into the adjacent tube of the tubes 24 throughwhich the coin will pass into one of the pockets 59. When this is done,the operator will grasp the handle 78 to turn the shaft 57 whereupon thedetent 47 will be disengaged from the hook 46, as has been described,and the door will open affording access to the compartment numberedcorrespondingly to the tube 24 through which the coin has passed. Theoperator of the machine may then remove the article of merchandise orprize in the compartment behind the opened door 45 and a new article ofmerchandise will be positioned in this compartment whereupon the door 45will be closed, and the hook 46 will then engage the detent 47, as thesprings 54 and 74 will reposition the parts as soon as the handle 78 isreleased. At the time the coin 35 disengaged from the foot portion 67,it passed through the coin guide 82 and opening 83 into the rearwardmostcompartment into the coin box 39.

It is manifest from the foregoing description that I have provided anamusement machine which will afford access to a prize upon skillfuloperation of the machine. Furthermore, in this amusement machine, thecoin itself is used as the projectile which is conducive to a simplerconstruction. It is manifest that access cannot be had to the prizesunless a coin projectile has passed through one of the tubes, forotherwise there is no connection between the bell crank and the shaft5'7, and hence manipulation of the handle 78 will cause no operationwhen no coin is positioned in one of the pockets in the shaft 57.

While I have illustrated and described a selected embodiment of myinvention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation andmodification and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails set forth but desire to avail myself of such changes andalterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine which has a compartment and latch means normallypreventing access to said compartment, the combination therewith of acoin-actuated release means including a coin tube, said coin tube havingthe lower end of one wall thereof cut away, a bell crank including afoot portion aligned with said cutaway portion and engageable with saidwall adjacent said cutaway portion, a shaft having a pocket thereinaligned with said tube whereby a coin passing through said tube may moveinto said pocket, means for adjusting the position assumed by a coinpassing into said pocket, a chain having one end thereof wrapped aboutsaid shaft and having the opposite end thereof connected to a yieldablemeans which acts through said chain to normally hold the pocket in theshaft in alignment with said tube, means for rotating said shaft andincluding a handle upon the operation of which a coin positioned in saidpocket may be moved through said cutaway portion into engagement withsaid bell crank to move said bell crank with said shaft, meansconnecting said bell crank to said latch means, and means in-- cluding acentered pawl for preventing movement of said shaft back into positionto align said pocket with said tube prior to the time a coin in saidpocket and moving said bell crank has disengaged the foot portion ofsaid bell crank.

2. In a machine which has a compartment and latch means normallypreventing access to said compartment, the combination therewith of acoin-actuated release means including a coin tube, said coin tube havingthe lower end of one wall thereof cut away, a bell crank including afoot portion aligned with said cutaway portion and engageable with saidwall adjacent said cutaway portion, a shaft having a pocket thereinaligned with said tube whereby a coin passing through said tube may moveinto said pocket, a chain having one end thereof wrapped about saidshaft and having the opposite end thereof connected to a yieldable meanswhich acts through said chain to normally hold the pocket in alignmentwith said tube, means for rotating said shaft whereby a coin positionedin said pocket may move through said cutaway portion into engagementwith said bell crank to move said bell crank with said shaft, a ratcheton said shaft, and a centered pawl engageable with said ratchet toprevent movement of said shaft back into position to align said pocketwith said tube prior to the time a coin in said pocket and moving saidbell crank has disengaged the foot portion of said bell crank, saidratchet including a relieved portion and said pawl having a roundedsurface whereby when said pawl moves into said relieved portion therounded surface of said pawl cooperates with said ratchet to therebypermit said shaft to move back into the position whereat the pockettherein is aligned with the tube.

JOHN F. MEYER.

